Which states capitulated The Germany We Lost: The Story of the Surrender of the Soviet Union
Firsov A.
On May 2, 1945, the Berlin garrison under the command of Helmut Weidling capitulated to the Red Army.
The surrender of Germany was a foregone conclusion.
On May 4, 1945, between the Fuhrer's successor, the new Reich President, Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz, and General Montgomery, a document was signed on the military surrender to the allies of northwestern Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands and the related truce.
But this document cannot be called an unconditional surrender of the whole of Germany. It was the surrender of only certain territories.
The first complete and unconditional surrender of Germany was signed on the territory of the Allies at their headquarters on the night of May 6 to 7 at 2:41 am in the city of Reims. This act of unconditional surrender of Germany and a complete ceasefire within 24 hours was accepted by the commander of the allied forces in the west, General Eisenhower. It was signed by representatives of all allied forces.
Here is how Victor Kostin writes about this surrender:
On May 6, 1945, German General Jodl arrived at the headquarters of the American command in Reims, representing the government of Admiral Doenitz, who became the head of Germany after Hitler's suicide.
Jodl, on behalf of Dönitz, proposed that the surrender of Germany be signed on May 10 by the commanders of the branches of the armed forces, that is, the army, air force and navy.
The delay of several days was due to the fact that, according to him, it took time to find out the location of the units of the German armed forces and bring to their attention the fact of surrender.
In fact, during these few days, the Germans intended to withdraw a large grouping of their troops from Czechoslovakia, where they were at that time, and transfer them to the West in order to surrender not to the Soviet army, but to the Americans.
The commander of the allied forces in the West, General Eisenhower, figured out this proposal and rejected it, giving Jodl half an hour to think. He said that in the event of a refusal, the full power of American and British forces would be brought down on the German troops.
Jodl was forced to make concessions, and on May 7 at 2:40 a.m. CET, Jodl, General Beddel Smith from the allied side and General Susloparov - the Soviet representative to the allied command - accepted the surrender of Germany, which came into force from 23 hours 1 minute May 8 This date is celebrated in Western countries.
By the time President Truman and British Prime Minister Churchill announced Germany's surrender to Stalin, he had already scolded Susloparov for rushing to sign the act.”
The act of unconditional surrender of Germany from the German side, together with Colonel General Alfred Jodl, was signed by Admiral Hans Georg von Friedeburg.
The document signed on May 7, 1945 was called: "The act of unconditional surrender of all land, sea and air forces currently under German control."
All that remained before the complete cessation of hostilities and the Second World War was the day allotted to the capitulating side to bring the Act of Unconditional Surrender to every soldier.
Stalin was not satisfied with the fact that:
The signing of unconditional surrender took place on the territory occupied by the allies,
The act was signed primarily by the leadership of the allies, which to some extent belittled the role of the USSR and Stalin himself in the victory over Nazi Germany,
The act of unconditional surrender was signed not by Stalin or Zhukov, but only by Major General from the artillery Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov.
Referring to the fact that the shooting in some places had not yet stopped, Stalin ordered Zhukov to arrange a second ("final") signing of unconditional surrender, immediately after the complete ceasefire on May 8, preferably in Berlin and with the participation of Zhukov.
Since there was no suitable (not destroyed) building in Berlin, the signing was arranged on the outskirts of Berlin Karlhorst immediately after the ceasefire by the German troops. Eisenhower refused the invitation to participate in the re-signing of the surrender, but informed Jodl that the German commanders-in-chief of the armed forces were to appear for the re-procedure at the time and place that would be indicated Soviet command to sign a new act with the Soviet command.
From the Russian troops, Georgy Zhukov came to sign the second surrender, from the British troops, Eisenhower sent his deputy, Air Chief Marshal A. Tedder. On behalf of the United States, the commander of the strategic air force, General K. Spaats, was present and signed the surrender as a witness; on behalf of the French armed forces, the commander-in-chief of the army, General J. de Lattre de Tassigny, signed the surrender as a witness.
Jodl did not go to re-sign the act, but sent his deputies - the former chief of staff of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW), Field Marshal V. Keitel, Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, Admiral of the Fleet G. Friedeburg and Colonel General of Aviation G. Stumpf.
The re-signing of the capitulation caused a smile from all the signers, with the exception of representatives of the Russian side.
Seeing that representatives of France were also participating in the re-signing of the surrender, Keitel grinned: “How! We also lost the war to France? “Yes, Mr. Field Marshal, and France too,” they answered him from the Russian side.
The re-surrender, now from the three branches of the armed forces, was signed by Germany by three representatives of the three branches of the armed forces sent by Jodl - Keitel, Friedeburg and Stumpf.
The second unconditional surrender of Germany was signed on May 8, 1945. The date for signing the surrender is May 8th.
But the celebration of Victory Day on May 8 also did not suit Stalin. It was the day that the capitulation of May 7 took effect. And it was clear that this capitulation was only a continuation and duplication of the earlier one, which declared May 8 the day of a complete ceasefire.
In order to completely get away from the first unconditional surrender and to emphasize the second unconditional surrender as much as possible, Stalin decided to declare May 9th as Victory Day. The following were used as arguments:
A) The actual signing of the act by Keitel, Friedeburg and Stumpf took place on May 8 at 22:43 German (Western European) time, but in Moscow it was already 0:43 on May 9.
B) The whole procedure for signing the act of unconditional surrender ended on May 8th at 2250 hours German time. But in Moscow it was already 0 hours 50 minutes on May 9th.
D) The announcement of victory in Russia and the festive salute in honor of the victory over Germany took place in Russia on May 9, 1945.
Since Stalin's times in Russia, the date of signing the act of unconditional surrender is considered to be May 9, 1945, Berlin is usually called the place of signing the act of unconditional surrender, and only Wilhelm Keitel is the signatory from the German side.
As a result of such Stalinist actions, Russians still celebrate May 9th as Victory Day and are surprised when Europeans celebrate the same Victory Day on May 8th or 7th.
The name of General Ivan Alekseevich Susloparov was deleted from the Soviet history textbooks, and the fact that he signed the act of unconditional surrender of Germany is still hushed up in every possible way in Russia.
Third unconditional surrender of Germany
On June 5, 1945, the unconditional state-political surrender of Germany was announced by the four victorious countries. It was issued as a declaration of the European Advisory Commission.
The document is called: "Declaration of the defeat of Germany and the assumption of supreme power over Germany by the governments of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the Provisional Government of the French Republic."
The document says:
"The German armed forces on land, on water and in the air are completely defeated and unconditionally capitulated, and Germany, which is responsible for the war, is no longer able to resist the will of the victorious powers. As a result, the unconditional surrender of Germany has been achieved, and Germany is subject to all demands that will be made against her now or in the future.".
In accordance with the document, the four victorious powers undertake the implementation of " supreme authority in Germany, including all powers of the German government, the High Command of the Wehrmacht and the governments, administrations or authorities of the Länder, cities and magistrates. The exercise of power and the listed powers does not entail the annexation of Germany".
This unconditional surrender was signed by representatives of four countries without the participation of representatives of Germany.
A similar confusion was introduced by Stalin into Russian textbooks with the dates of the beginning and end of the Second World War. If the whole world considers September 1, 1939 to be the start date of the Second World War, then Russia since the time of Stalin continues to "modestly" count the beginning of the war from July 22, 1941, "forgetting" about the successful capture of Poland, the Baltic states and parts of Ukraine in 1939 and about the failure of a similar attempt to capture Finland (1939-1940).
Similar confusion exists with the day the Second World War ended. If Russia celebrates May 9th as the day of the victory of the allied forces over the German coalition and in fact as the day of the end of World War II, then the whole world celebrates the end of World War II on September 2nd.
On this day in 1945, Japan signed the Unconditional Surrender Act aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay.
On behalf of Japan, the act was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan M. Shigemitsu and the head General Staff General Y. Umezu. On behalf of the Allies, the act was signed by US Army General D. MacArthur, Soviet Lieutenant General K. Derevyanko, and Admiral of the British Fleet B. Fraser.
In the last months of the existence of the fascist regime in Germany, the Hitlerite elite intensified numerous attempts to save Nazism by concluding a separate peace with the Western powers. The German generals wanted to capitulate to the Anglo-American troops, continuing the war with the USSR. To sign the surrender in Reims (France), where the headquarters of the commander of the Western Allies, US Army General Dwight Eisenhower, was located, the German command sent a special group that tried to achieve a separate surrender to Western front, but the allied governments did not consider it possible to enter into such negotiations. Under these conditions, the German envoy Alfred Jodl agreed to the final signing of the act of surrender, having previously obtained permission from the German leadership, but the authority given to Jodl remained the wording to conclude an "armistice agreement with General Eisenhower's headquarters."
On May 7, 1945, Germany's unconditional surrender was signed for the first time in Reims. On behalf of the German High Command, it was signed by Colonel-General Alfred Jodl, Chief of the Operational Staff of the German High Command, on behalf of the Anglo-American side, Lieutenant General of the US Army, Chief of the General Staff of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, Walter Bedell Smith, and on behalf of the USSR, the representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command at Allied Command Major General Ivan Susloparov. Also, the Act was signed by the Deputy Chief of the French National Defense Staff, Brigadier General Francois Sevez, as a witness. The capitulation of Nazi Germany took effect on May 8 at 23.01 CET (May 9 at 01.01 Moscow time). The document was drawn up in English language, only English text was recognized as official.
The Soviet representative, General Susloparov, who by this time had not received instructions from the Supreme High Command, signed the act with the proviso that this document should not exclude the possibility of signing another act at the request of one of the allied countries.
The text of the act of surrender signed in Reims differed from the document that had long been developed and agreed between the allies. The document entitled "Unconditional Surrender of Germany" was government approved United States on August 9, 1944, the government of the USSR on August 21, 1944 and the government of England on September 21, 1944 and was an extensive text of fourteen clearly worded articles, which, in addition to the military terms of surrender, also stated that the USSR, the USA and England "will have with regard to Germany by the supreme power" and will present additional political, administrative, economic, financial, military and other requirements. In contrast, the text signed at Reims was brief, containing only five articles, and dealt exclusively with the surrender of German armies on the battlefield.
After that, in the West, the war was considered over. On this basis, the United States and Great Britain proposed that on May 8 the leaders of the three powers officially declare victory over Germany. The Soviet government did not agree and demanded the signing of a formal act of unconditional surrender. Nazi Germany, because fighting on the Soviet-German front still continued. Forced to sign the Reims Act, the German side immediately violated it. German Chancellor Admiral Karl Doenitz ordered the German troops on the Eastern Front to retreat to the west as quickly as possible, and if necessary, fight their way there.
Stalin declared that the Act should be solemnly signed in Berlin: “The treaty signed in Reims cannot be canceled, but it cannot be recognized. , - in Berlin, and not unilaterally, but necessarily by the supreme command of all countries anti-Hitler coalition After this declaration, the Allies agreed to hold a ceremony for the second signing of the act of unconditional surrender of Germany and its armed forces in Berlin.
Since it was not easy to find a whole building in the destroyed Berlin, it was decided to carry out the procedure for signing the act on the outskirts of Berlin Karlshorst in the building where the club of the fortification school of sappers of the German Wehrmacht used to be. It was prepared for this room.
The acceptance of the unconditional surrender of Nazi Germany from the Soviet side was entrusted to the Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces of the USSR Marshal Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov. Under the protection of British officers, a German delegation was brought to Karlshorst, which had the authority to sign an act of unconditional surrender.
On May 8, at exactly 22:00 CET (24:00 Moscow time), representatives of the Soviet Supreme High Command, as well as the Allied High Command, entered the hall decorated with the state flags of the Soviet Union, the United States, England and France. The hall was attended by Soviet generals, whose troops participated in the legendary storming of Berlin, as well as Soviet and foreign journalists. The ceremony of signing the act was opened by Marshal Zhukov, who greeted the representatives of the allied armies in a busy Soviet Army Berlin.
After that, on his orders, the German delegation was brought into the hall. At the suggestion of the Soviet representative, the head of the German delegation presented a document on his powers, signed by Doenitz. The German delegation was then asked whether it had the Act of Unconditional Surrender in hand and whether it had studied it. After an affirmative answer, representatives of the German armed forces, at the sign of Marshal Zhukov, signed an act drawn up in nine copies (three copies each in Russian, English and German). Then the representatives of the allied forces put their signatures. On behalf of the German side, the act was signed by: the head of the Supreme High Command of the Wehrmacht, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel, the representative of the Luftwaffe (Air Force), Colonel General Hans Stumpf and the representative of the Kriegsmarine ( Naval Forces) Admiral Hans von Friedeburg. Unconditional surrender was accepted by Marshal Georgy Zhukov (from the Soviet side) and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Allied Expeditionary Forces Marshal Arthur Tedder (Great Britain). General Carl Spaats (USA) and General Jean de Latre de Tassigny (France) put their signatures as witnesses. The document stipulated that only the English and Russian texts were authentic. One copy of the act was immediately handed over to Keitel. Another original copy of the act on the morning of May 9 was delivered by plane to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command of the Red Army.
The procedure for signing the surrender ended on May 8 at 22.43 CET (May 9 at 0.43 Moscow time). In conclusion, a large reception was held in the same building for representatives of the allies and guests, which lasted until the morning.
After the signing of the act, the German government was dissolved, and the defeated German troops completely laid down their arms.
The date of the official announcement of the signing of the surrender (May 8 in Europe and America, May 9 in the USSR) began to be celebrated as Victory Day in Europe and the USSR, respectively.
A complete copy (i.e. in three languages) of the German Military Surrender Act, as well as an original document signed by Doenitz, certifying the credentials of Keitel, Friedeburg and Stumpf, are stored in the collection of international treaty acts of the Archive foreign policy Russian Federation. Another original copy of the act is located in Washington in the US National Archives.
The document signed in Berlin is, with the exception of minor details, a repetition of the text signed in Reims, but it was important that the German command surrendered in Berlin itself.
The act also contains an article that provided for the replacement of the signed text with "another general instrument of surrender." Such a document, called the "Declaration of the Defeat of Germany and the Assumption of Supreme Power by the Governments of the Four Allied Powers," was signed on June 5, 1945, in Berlin by the four Allied Commanders-in-Chief. It almost completely reproduced the text of the document on unconditional surrender, worked out in London by the European Consultative Commission and approved by the governments of the USSR, the USA and Great Britain in 1944.
Now, where the signing of the act took place, there is the German-Russian Museum "Berlin-Karlshorst".
The material was prepared on the basis of information from RIA Novosti and open sources
On Defender of the Fatherland Day, it is worth recalling who the Russian soldier fought with and where the defenders of other fatherlands were at that time
This year we will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union in World War II. Therefore, on Defender of the Fatherland Day, it is worth recalling once again who the Russian soldier fought with and where the defenders of other fatherlands were at that time.
So it turns out that it would be more logical for many European countries to celebrate May 9 not as Victory Day in World War II, but to remember their shameful capitulation. After all, almost all of continental Europe by 1941 somehow entered the Third Reich. Of the more than two dozen European countries that existed by June 1941, nine - Spain, Italy, Finland, Denmark, Norway, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia and Croatia - Together with Germany and Austria entered the war against the USSR.
The rest also resisted the enemy for a short time:
Monaco - 1 day, Luxembourg - 1 day, Netherlands - 6 days, Belgium - 8 days, Yugoslavia - 12 days, Greece - 24 days, Poland - 36 days, France - 43 days, and then actually joined the aggressor and worked for his industry. Even supposedly neutral countries - Switzerland and Sweden did not stand aside. They granted fascist Germany the right to free transit of military cargo through their territory, and also received huge incomes from trade. The trade turnover of "neutral" Portugal with the Nazis was so successful that in May 1945 she declared three days of mourning in connection with the death of Hitler.But that's not all. - The national identity of all those who died in battles on the Russian front is difficult or even impossible to establish. But the composition of the military personnel taken prisoner by our army during the war is known. Germans and Austrians - 2,546,242 people; 766,901 people belonged to other nations that declared war on us: Hungarians, Romanians, Italians, Finns and others, but another 464,147 prisoners of war are French, Belgians, Czechs and representatives of other European states that did not seem to be at war with us, - gives terrible numbers of betrayal historian Vadim Kozhinov. - And while this multinational army won victories on the Russian front, Europe was, by and large, on the side of the Third Reich.
That is why, according to the recollections of the participants, during the signing of the act of surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945, the head of the German delegation, Field Marshal Keitel, seeing among those present at the ceremony persons in French military uniform, could not contain his surprise: "How?! And they also defeated us, or what ?!
It is interesting what the field marshal would say today to the Europeans calling for celebrating Victory Day without Russia's participation. I would probably remind you that the Wehrmacht conquered their countries faster than a couple of houses in Stalingrad.
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22:36 — REGNUM "Today, European countries are trying to accuse the USSR, in other words, the successor of the truly "united and indestructible Soviet Union" Russia, of the disgrace in which they themselves are guilty. It is known who shouts the loudest in the market: "Stop the thief" Where were the traditions of true European democratic values proclaimed so loudly today and just elementary decency in relation to their own homeland, if in just 116 days Europe knelt down before Hitler?!"
This was stated in an interview with a REGNUM correspondent by the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Armenia Ruben Tovmasyan, commenting at his request on the adoption of the Warsaw Declaration and the imposition of equal responsibility for the outbreak of World War II on Nazi Germany and the USSR.
Recall that, in accordance with the decision of the European Parliament, on August 23, 2011, on the anniversary of the signing of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Germany and the USSR, the EU countries for the first time celebrated the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Totalitarianism. A conference of EU justice ministers was held in Warsaw, and the Warsaw Declaration was adopted. The US Embassy in Estonia placed equal responsibility for the outbreak of World War II on Nazi Germany and the USSR.
According to Tovmasyan, drawing such parallels indicates either complete illiteracy in matters of history, or open hostility towards the Soviet Union, or a deliberate shift in emphasis in order to realize far-reaching intentions towards Russia.
He is convinced that "the Great Patriotic War occupies a completely unique place in the world history of wars, since so many peoples and ethnic groups stood together to defend one great Motherland."
"It's shameful and blasphemous when a blow is struck on that part of our common history, which not only the Russian, but all the peoples of the USSR were traditionally proud of as a shrine. After all, the "brown plague" that enslaved the world was put to an end by the universal efforts and at the cost of huge sacrifices," the leader of the Armenian Communist Party said.
As he added, according to official data, the human losses of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War, amounted to about 27 million people, including the irretrievable losses of the Soviet armed forces - approximately 8.6 million soldiers and officers.
“Only from Soviet Armenia, about 600 thousand people went to the front, half of whom died. For the Armenians, it didn’t matter in“ which sky ”the Hero of the Soviet Union died twice Nelson Stepanyan, or "whose country" the marshal liberated Bagramyan. They all fought for great motherland, in the name of the idea to which they were committed," Tovmasyan said.
According to him, instead of comparing the USSR with Germany, one could draw other parallels that would explain "why the European countries raise a big fuss, that they were allegedly against the war, that allegedly, according to the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact, Europe was divided ".
“Only 116 days it took Hitler to conquer Europe. Poland capitulated in 16 days, Denmark in a day, Norway and Belgium in 2 months, France in 44 days. And Leningrad proved a completely different truth - it was able to withstand 900 days of the most severe blockade, during which, according to various sources, about a million people died. So let those who shout the most shout the paradoxes of true values, ideologies and patriotism," Tovmasyan emphasized.
In addition, he quoted an Iranian proverb that says: "If it were possible to build a house with a cry and a roar, then a donkey would have built a whole block long ago."
"The one who shouts the loudest today against the Soviet Union and its special role in World War II is quite comparable with the" hero "of this Eastern wisdom," the head of the Armenian communists pointed out.
According to him, the United States and Europe, having destroyed the USSR with the help of "the treacherous gang of Gorbachevs, Yakovlevs, Shevardnadzes, Sobchaks and priests", are now trying to reshape Russia in their own way, weakening and splitting this state as much as possible.
"Armenia is also in the spotlight, its separation and isolation from Russia. But at the moment when the Russian troops leave the Armenian land, or there is a cooling of relations between the two countries, this will be the beginning of the end for Armenia," Tovmasyan stressed.
He also expressed confidence that in case "if a threat suddenly arises" crusade"West against Russia, then not only Russian, but also Armenian communists will stand in one line together with all progressive forces - to protect this great country."
"I am proud that I lead the pro-Russian party. I am proud that the Communist Party of Armenia is cooperating with the Communist Party of Russia," Tovmasyan concluded.
Background
The European Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Stalinism and Nazism is celebrated on 23 August. The date is associated with the day of the signing between the USSR and Germany of the non-aggression pact (the so-called "Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact") of August 23, 1939.
On 23 September 2008, the European Parliament signed a declaration establishing memorial day. The document argued that “mass deportations, murders and acts of enslavement, committed in the context of acts of aggression by Stalinism and Nazism, fall under the category of war crimes and crimes against humanity. According to regulations international law, there is no statute of limitations for war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
In July 2009, the Parliamentary OSCE approved a resolution condemning "the totalitarian regimes of the 20th century - Nazism and Stalinism."
Attempts to equate communism with Nazism have sparked strong protests in Russia. The Russian Foreign Ministry called the resolution unacceptable and noted that the document distorts history for political purposes.
The author forgets about such things as PACTs .... Treaties of countries on non-aggression, or vice versa, alliances on strengthening ... Each country tried to snatch a piece of Europe for itself ... For example, a pact of four:
On July 15, 1933, the "Pact of Accord and Cooperation" between England, France, Italy and Germany (Pact of Four) was signed in Rome and by the ambassadors of France (de Jouvenel), England (Graham) and Germany (von Hassel).
Germany, following these agreements, demanded complete equality of rights in matters of armaments (i.e., the abolition of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles) and, together with Italy, insisted on revising peace treaties prisoners after the 1st World War. England hoped to capture the leading position in the Big Four. France, bound by treaty relations with the countries of the Entente Minor and Poland and interested in maintaining the Versailles treaty system, at first rejected the demands of Germany and Italy. However, the positions of the four major powers were brought together by the desire to create a closed group that opposes the Soviet Union.
In a conversation with the German ambassador in Rome, Hassel, on March 15, 1933, Mussolini frankly showed the enormous benefits that the "Pact of Four" provided to Nazi Germany:
“Thanks to the quiet period of 5 to 10 years secured in this way, Germany will be able to arm on the basis of the principle of equality of rights, without France having any pretext to do anything against it. At the same time, the possibility of revision will be officially recognized for the first time and will be maintained throughout the period mentioned ... The system of peace treaties will thus be practically eliminated ... "
The conclusion of the "Pact of Four" reinforced Poland's fears that the "big" powers would be ready to sacrifice the interests of the "small" ones in the event of a crisis. The result was an attempt to protect themselves from possible aggression by an agreement with Germany. In addition, the position of Poland was influenced by the fact that a clearly defined alliance of Poland and Hungary was taking shape in Central European politics, directed against Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, and also Romania - that is, against the Little Entente. The Polish leadership expected from Germany (also interested in the division of Czechoslovakia and, possibly, Austria and Yugoslavia) active mutual support in the redistribution of the Versailles borders. Partially, these expectations were justified after the Munich Agreement of 1938, when Germany, Hungary and Poland divided the Czechoslovak territories among themselves.
Negotiations intensified when Germany withdrew from the League of Nations on October 19, 1933, followed by its international isolation. The Polish dictator considered that this was a unique moment in order to finally remove the mutual tension between Poland and Germany.
On November 15, the Warsaw ambassador in Berlin handed Hitler an oral message from Piłsudski. It said that the Polish ruler positively assesses the coming to power of the National Socialists and their foreign policy aspirations. It was said about the personal positive role of the German Fuhrer in establishing relations between countries and that Pilsudski himself considers him as a guarantor of the inviolability of Polish borders. The note ended with the words that the Polish dictator appealed personally to Hitler with a request to overcome all the accumulated contradictions...........
And during the war? Poland was so afraid of Germany, but the Chekhovs "chipped off" a piece on the sly .. Then the truth itself "received" ...
Each country did what it considered best for itself...
